Massachusetts Labor Leader on Ed Markey: 'He's a Weak Candidate'

Michael Warren

January 14, 2013 1:49 PM

Democratic congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts has already announced his intention to run in the special election for the Senate should John Kerry be confirmed as secretary of state. But Markey, who has served in the House for more than 36 years, isn't getting support from an important Boston-area labor leader. The Boston Herald reports:

“He’s a weak candidate,” said Mike Monahan, the business director at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 103, of Markey. Even though the union endorsed both Martha Coakley and Elizabeth Warren in recent Senate elections, Monahan said this time it won’t endorse.

“The field is weak at best, and in a special election beating Brown will take a lot of work and a lot of money,” he said, adding that U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry’s potential confirmation as secretary of state is likely to send Brown right back to Capitol Hill. “This scenario is man-made and it shows the lack of respect that those people have in Washington for the amount of work we did in the Brown-Warren election. To re-create the scenario is a slap in the face to all the people who volunteered their time, door-to-door and made donations.”

Scott Brown, the Republican senator who lost reelection to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in November, is reportedly considering running for the Kerry seat as well.